Extended Season For Some Northwest Ski Areas, But Profits Scarce

Notice the brown hills around Sun Valley in this panorama snapped on Dec. 29, 2013. Snowmaking allowed the famous resort to operate during the crucial holiday period.

Credit Tom Banse

There will be end-of-season parties at at least nine Northwest ski resorts this weekend (4/12-13). But some other Cascade ski areas will welcome skiers and snowboarders well past Easter. That's thanks to late-season snow that fell at many area resorts. Timing means everything for the bottom line of these resort companies. Correspondent Tom Banse explains how a strong finish doesn't necessarily make up for a late start like we saw this season.

"I'm coming to you from a chairlift at the White Pass Ski Area on a classic spring skiing day. Blue skies, warm breezes, a deep snowpack that will probably last until June. The boys that just whizzed by beneath me are in T-shirts and I can spy a snowcapped Mount Rainier glorious in the distance. It's enough to make you forget about the rocky beginning to this year's ski season... Or make that maybe, almost forget."

Carrie Fox: "Today is a great day to finish off."

That's Carrie Fox of Olympia.

Carrie Fox: "Snow is a little sloppy, but you can't beat 70 degrees and skiing without your coat on."

Fox chaperoned a gaggle of school kids for a happy season finale. Nearby, Rodney Eells of Yakima admits he questioned whether he'd get his money's worth from his season pass earlier.

Rodney Eells: "I wasn't sure if I would be able to come up enough times to make it worthwhile. But I think if I can get one more visit up here, I'll be alright."

The general manager of this ski area in Washington's South Cascades is Kevin McCarthy. He says the business started slow this year and then picked up.

Kevin McCarthy: "I feel more thankful at the end of this year than I have ever... Difficult year, but we're all going to survive. Put it that way."

Many Northwest mountain resorts could operate longer if skier interest were there.

Credit Tom Banse

As you might remember, it was cold, but very dry up until the end of January. That meant too many skiers stayed home during the crucial make-or-break weeks around Christmas, New Years and the M.L. King Day holidays.

Kevin McCarthy: "We had a fabulous February, made it up a little bit. March was pretty good also, but you don't make it up at this time of year. You can continue to have a good year, the second half. But at times it is 25% of your business during those two to three weeks at Christmas."

Higher elevation resorts like White Pass, Mt. Bachelor and Mount Hood can extend their seasons given ample spring snowpack. But there's a point of diminishing returns when other sports beckon. McCarthy jokes this place will run out of skiers before it runs out of snow.

Kevin McCarthy: "Everyone just loves the change of season and they can't wait to start the next even though in the springtime it could be cold, nasty and windy, but we're out there trying to golf."

So the bottom line: the 2013-14 ski and snowboard season will be unprofitable at White Pass. McCarthy figures the loss will be small, especially compared with the disasters suffered by some other Northwest resorts.Mount Ashland in southern Oregon never opened at all due to lack of snow. Hoodoo Ski Area experienced the latest opening in its history. The Summit at Snoqualmie and Idaho's Soldier Mountain and Magic Mountain also had short seasons.

One phenomenon worth noting is how competing resorts came to each other's aid this year. Some of those with enough snow to operate honored season's passes from properties that didn't.

Erratic snow also tested the resilience of Nordic ski areas, including the Methow Valley Sport Trails Association in north-central Washington. James DiSalvo is that nonprofit's director. He says daily ticket sales decreased about 20 percent versus last season.

James DiSalvo: "What we have found is that we can handle a year like this. What we can't handle is two or three or four consecutive years like this."